STUDIO REPUBLIC

 

A custom recording and pressing concern, from Pinner, near Watford.  As is often the case with such companies, Studio Republic's products are hard to find: presumably they were pressed in small quantities and sold privately.  With them being so difficult to trace, giving dates of operation is next to impossible, but the Southern Stompers EP 'Jazz At The Kings' (REP-10,000) shown above dates from 1961 (1).  After that came out there seems to have been a break until the mid '60s, when records started coming out with SRL-P-1xxx numbers.  Their matrix numbers were in an '000' series, prefixed SRM-7 for 7" records and SRM-12 for 12"ones.  Around 1967 this numbering replaced the old SRL-P one.  From around 1968 onwards an SRS prefix was introduced for stereo records.  Records with Studio Republic matrix or catalogue numbers can be found on other labels, 7" examples from the '70s being Grail, Encounter and Force (q.v. all).  I have yet to find anything on the actual Studio Republic label from later than 1974, but records with Studio Republic numbers could be found on other labels until at least 1983.  At least three label designs were used, with the orange-and-red type being by far the most common - it seems to have come into use around 1966, with SRM-7024/5.  The discography below lists such 7" items with Studio Republic numbers that I have been able to find, along with 12" LPs that were on Studio Republic's own label.  Where applicable, catalogue numbers are shown on the right.

Copyright 2008 Robert Lyons.